The Green Bay Packers won’t be reporting fiscal year revenue of over a half-billion dollars at this time next year, but the team is actually optimistic they won’t have to dip into their growing reserve fund to weather the storm of challenges presented by the current coronavirus pandemic.
Team president Mark Murphy is still “hopeful” the Packers won’t need to take money from the fund, which now totals over $400 million.
“The purpose of the corporate reserve fund is emergencies. When we put it together, we thought it would be most likely a prolonged strike or a lockout. We didn’t think of a pandemic,” Murphy told Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated. “Hopefully, this will not be a long-term impact on the organization but if it does, we do have it there and we may use it. Right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to.”
Murphy told Huber that the team improved its liquidity to help get through the pandemic, which has drastically altered the offseason and is threatening to drastically alter the regular season. In fact, the Packers are preparing for significantly reduced capacity at games and the possibility of no fans at games, plus other revenue-reducing factors, such as the lack of fans at training camp and the cancelation of the preseason.
Helping the Packers navigate the crisis is the league’s lucrative television contract, and also the national revenue sources that help cover most of the team’s major expenses, such as player costs. Even reduced capacity at games – Murphy estimated the possibility of 10,000 to 12,000 fans at Lambeau Field – would help the bottom line.
Although the Packers are expecting revenue to take a potentially major hit over the next fiscal year, the team believes they can get through a difficult season without significant financial consequences. Even if the monetary situation does get dire for whatever reason, the Packers can use the fund to mitigate the damage.
Murphy said the Packers, who don’t have a single owner, have built up the reserve fund over the last 10-15 years in case of an emergency.
[lawrence-related id=48370,48352]